'Hungry' threatens the Earth

The earth may be hit by a massive meteorite in 160 years. That is the warning of Italian scientists, posted on the latest New Scientist digital issue.

Artwork: science.howstuffworks.com

According to researchers at the University of Pisa, the meteorite called 1999 RQ36, was discovered a decade ago, but at the time it was thought not to be of concern.

However, the recent calculation results show that the probability of this meteor hitting the Earth from 2169 to 2199 is 1: 1,400. With an estimated diameter of 560m, the 1999 RQ36 meteorite is more than twice the Apophis meteorite, which has 1: 45,000 possibilities to collide with the globe by 2036. Both can cause terrible tsunamis. If you fall into the ocean.

Although the threat from 1999 RQ36 appeared at the end of the next century, the scientific community hoped to deflect the direction of the meteorite earlier when it flew near the Earth from 2060 to 2080. Just create one a deviation of less than 1 km is sufficient to eliminate the possibility of 1999 RQ36 meteorite hitting the Earth later. Through this point, the mission to save the Earth will face many difficulties and more costly, but the efficiency will be significantly reduced.